OMAS Princess #5

Recently another long-awaited OMAS Princess fountain pen joined my collection - a 1997 Arco Green Princess with gold-filled trim!



This is the fifth Princess in my collection, and the sixth OMAS celluloid I have had the pleasure of owning. The diminutive Princess and Dama models were released along with the Paragon as the Classic Celluloid Collection in 1991. The Princess is as beautifully made as the 1930s ring top models which preceded it, and there is nothing like it amongst modern OMAS offerings.

A 5-Piece Scarlet Red Classic Celluloid Set: Dama Ballpoint #C2811, Princess Ring Top Fountain Pen with Tassel #8141, The Paragon Fountain Pen #8711, Dama (Lady) Fountain Pen #8811, and The Paragon Rollerball #5711. (Photo © Unknown)

The Classic Celluloid Collection was a high-quality OMAS range which featured their faceted, twelve-sided (dodecagonal) design turned out in four beautiful celluloid stocks: Scarlet Red, Saft Green, Pearl Grey and Arco Bronze. Later, three additional celluloids were added – Blue La Royale, Arco Green and Senape Blue:



The Classic Celluloid Collection was discontinued in ~2002. All subsequent releases in these celluloids feature different models, including several revisions of the Paragon. Models and sizes can be confusing in regard to these OMAS pens, but as a general guide:

• The Princess is a clipless ring top, and it is tiny. It is 4.3" / 110mm capped.
• The Dama is also known as the "1930" model. It is a very small pen, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Mini Paragon". It is 4.6" / 118mm capped.
• The Milord is the model sized between the Dama/1930 and the Paragon. It was not part of the 1991 collection.
• The Paragon has been revised several times. When part of the 1991 collection, it was 5.5" / 142mm capped.

My Arco Green Princess has a 0.3mm Stub nib, and both pen and nib were courtesy of Dillon Ang, who like myself, has long appreciated what a exquisitely crafted little pen the Princess is. I have a couple of nibs from Dillon now, and have been very pleased with them. The pen is inked with Diamine Umber, which goes beautifully with the grey-green Arco Green celluloid.

The older OMAS nibs are of a very high, if slightly inconsistent quality, while the newer (2000 onward) Bock nibs are more uniformly produced and inconsistencies have largely been eliminated. However, this is of little concern to me... every one of my OMAS pens has a customised nib. ;)

If you have very deep pockets, only one store which I am aware of has any stock of the celluloid pens left - Pens in Asia. Be prepared to spend up for one, NOS.

Nakaya Piccolo III - Review

I have just posted the review for my third Nakaya :

• Piccolo Chinkin Palmet - Shu with Colored Powders

Nakaya Piccolo III - Photo!

So this morning I woke up to a fantastic post by SJM1123 in a recent thread on the FPN about Japanese lacquerware decoration. The post links to a wonderful database of techniques, including Chinkin, which is what I chose for my third Piccolo.

I was so inspired by the videos that I got the camera out and started snapping away. Here is a teaser from the shoot:


I couldn't find my remote cable release and I was all in despair over the lighting quality... but I think they turned out OK.

Just Inked: OMAS Princess #4

Today one of my stunning OMAS Princess fountain pens returned to me after spending some time with Deb Kinney. The nib is now a very nice Kinney 0.3mm Cursive Italic, and much more usable than the original (shudders in horror) B nib.

This 1997 Princess is all inked up with Iroshizuku Yu-Yake. The soft shade of orange goes beautifully with the Senape / Saffron Blue / Autumn Blue celluloid. (I have no idea why this celluloid has so many different names... but I like them all.)

I'm planning to photograph some pens this weekend... hopefully I might have a few more photos to update this with. This is definitely one of the less common OMAS celluloids.

Also, at some point in the near future I will have a Arco Green Princess arriving... another delicious and uncommon celluloid!

Sailor "Smoke Green" LE

Today a wonderful Sailor Professional Gear arrived!

Behold the full-size Sailor & Bunzo Stationery 2009 "Smoke Green" LE - only twenty-five pens were produced.


This limited edition pen was accompanied by a bottle of Sailor green ink, specifically blended to match the colour of the pen. It's a beautiful deep green ink that looks perfect coming out of the EF nib.

Gorgeous, gorgeous GREEN!

Nakaya Piccolo III - Update

I forgot to post this Nakaya update earlier (which in itself is an amazing occurrence), but my third Nakaya has been completed, and photos are available on the Nakaya website.

The pen will remain in Japan for some time yet, until the design of a new rose gold nib is complete.

The normal Chinkin technique of engraved line work into highly polished lacquer has always seemed too much of a visual contrast to me, so I opted for the subtler approach of line work into a unpolished Shu urushi body. The unpolished finish is akin to a 'satin' finish.

In a couple of months I will be starting talks with Nakaya for a fourth Piccolo, one with a completely custom design. I don't expect to see it until 2010, however, my tradition of at least one exquisite Nakaya a year is something which I love. I never mind waiting for pens like these. :)

Photo © Nakaya Corporation.

Gel Pens

I'm not a big fan of gel pens in general. The points are usually far too large for my handwriting, but I must say that I have been enjoying Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.25mm gel pens for some time now. I have found them to be wonderful for drawing and sketching in particular.

I really wish they were available in the full colour range, though... the 0.3mm/0.4mm colour range is beautiful.

(This concludes one of my very rare "pens-but-not-fountain-pens" posts!)

Shock, Horror!

I am back from my painting workshop - it rocked!

But now for the shock: There was a lovely man in my workshop who also liked fountain pens! *Gasp!* A real, live person! Someone from outside of the internet! That liked fountain pens!

I know, I could hardly believe it myself.

So, it was lunch time, and we were standing around in a small group, chatting. Someone had asked me something about myself, and in my prattling on I threw the usual line in about collecting fountain pens. The nice man then asked me what my favourite brand was (at this point, I think I experienced a mild case of shock, because I don't remember making much sense when I tried to explain that I liked Japanese pens). Then I asked him what his favourite brand was, and it was Montegrappa! (How wonderful to hear he liked something exotic, and didn't just say Parker or Sheaffer!) I was all: "*Gasps!* I have a Montegrappa Micra!! What model do you have?! Is it an LE?!" (Plus he knew what the Micra was!!!)

Then I realized that I really was speaking with that many exclamations, so I tried to chill and not act like an over excited eight year-old. I went and fetched my Libelle 5-pen wrap and revealed the goods! I am proud to say that they were greeted with awe. I had a Nakaya Piccolo, Sailor Pro Gear, Pilot MYU M90, Pelikan Polar Lights... and something else which escapes me at present.

Anyway, next time I am in Brisbane, we're going to have lunch, and I'm going to bring some of my pens! (OMG, an outing with my pens, I thought this day would never come!)

Out of Town

From tomorrow, I'm heading out of town for a couple of weeks. I'm going to a two-week watercolour painting workshop, something I've been looking forward to for the last few months!

I've packed a couple of my trusty Sailor Pro Gear pens, a bottle of Noodler's Golden Brown, and a couple of Rhodia notebooks. I'm good to go!

I won't have any internet access while I am away, so bye bye for a while. :)

Gaah! 2009!

There I was at 2AM this morning, merrily choosing which colour PANTONE^® Universe Collection Mug (see image) to use, when my husband came into the kitchen and reminded me that "2009 is the year". My hand was on my favourite mug, the Olive Green 5757C, when I realised what he was talking about.

I am in no way ready for it to be 2009.

This year, my hedonistic little life will effectively be over. This year, my husband wants me to have a baby.

A baby.

What on earth would I do with a baby?

The whole idea is just appalling.

Not even inking one of my most-loved pens, an OMAS Princess (Saft Green) with Binder 0.3mm Stub nib, has cheered me up.

*Sulks*